Parking signal



Spt. 22, 1942 H. F. SCHNEIDER PARKING SIGNAL Filed Aug.'l4, 1939INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PARKING SIGNALHerman F. Schneider, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application August 14, 1939, Serial No. 290,133

Claims.

My invention is a parking signal designed to warn a driver of themovement of his vehicle toward or from a desired stopping place toenable him to avoid injurious impact with an obstruction, such as agarage wall, or the unnoted regression of the vehicle into the path ofor too close proximity to a garage door or the like. .When an automobileis driven, either frontward or backward, into a usual private garage,considerable accuracy in stopping and positioning the car is required toavoid damage to the wall or to the bumper and at the same time avoid theprojection of the bumper at the opposite end of the car into the pathof, or into undesired proximity to, the garage door. provides a seriesof sequential signals to a driver as the bumper of his vehicleapproaches a garage wall, and a further series of signals should the carroll away from the desired stopping place after having been stopped.

My invention comprises, preferably, a portable base designed tobe placedon a garage floor and having an alarm mechanism mounted on the weightedfore end thereof; the base being hindered from sliding along the floor,under the impact of a vehicle with the alarm mechanism, by anti-slippingdevices such as rubber feet attached to the front and rear ends of thebase.

The alarm mechanism preferably includes an operating arm consisting of afulcrumed lever biased forwardly into the path of an on-coming vehicleby a spring having a, tension permitting the rocking of the lever by aforce applied to the free end thereof before such force tends to liftthe weighted fore end of the base, thereby avoiding the tilting of thebase on its anti-slipping devices as a fulcrum.

The operatingarm is connected with a signal, such as a bell, indicator,electric light, or the like, through mechanism which effects theoperation of the signal proportionately to the movement of the operatingarm in either direction. The driver may thereby be warned, first, whenhe is approaching stop position, when he .reaches stop position, andwhen he has passed stop position and is in dangerous proximity to thewall. Likewise signals will be given indicating the extent of hisretrogression from the wall on rolling backward after stopping.

The characteristic features and advantages of my improvements willfurther appear from the gollowing description and the accompanyingrawing in illustration thereof.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view illustratingmy improved park- My invention ing device in position for sounding awarning on the approach of an automobile toward a garage wall; Fig. 2 isa broken top plan view of the de vice shown in Fig. 1 with most of thedome portion of the alarm gong broken away to show the interiorconstruction; Fig. 3 is a broken fragmentary vertical longitudinalsectional View through the signal mechanism shown in Fig. 2approximately on the line 33 thereof, and Fig. 4 is a transversevertical sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, a flangedsheet metal base I is provided with rubber feet 2 and has attached tothe fore end thereof the weight 3.

A plate 4 and bracket 5 are fixed to the base I. A gong 6 is fixed tothe bracket 5 and contains a slot 1 for the passage of a lever B whichis'fulcrumed on a pintle 9 set in the bracket 5.

'A coiled spring [0 has one end anchored to a The lower end of the lever8 is engaged in the slot 13 of a slide [4 which is rectilineally movableby the lever 8 in the slideway N3 of the plate 4.

The slide I4 contains a bent groove, such as the zig-zag slot l6, forthe engagement of a pin ll depending from a slide l8 which is movabletransversely to the slide I4 and holds the latter in the slideway I5.

The slide I8 is held in sliding engagement with the plate 4 by headedpins [9 fixed in the plate 4 and having their shanks engaged in theslots 20 of the slide I8. Apertured metallic disks 2| and 2| are looselyconnected with the opposite ends of the slide 18 by headed pins 22having shanks of less diameter than the. apertures in the disk 2| andsecured in the slide l8.

A bowed leaf spring 23 has its ends set in the bosses 24 of the plate 4and the intermediate portion of the spring passes through a slotted pin25 set in the slide I8.

In the intended utilization of my device the base is placed on the floorof a garage adjacent to the rear wall thereof and with the lever 8projecting at an incline forwardly from the garage wall. The lever is ofsuch length that its upper end lies in the path of the bumper A or othersuitable part of the vehicle approaching the wall. When the bumperengages the upper part of the lever 8, the latter is turned on its pivotand thereby moves the slide l4 rectilineally in its slideway l5 towardthe front end of the base. The for ward movement of the slide I4 causesthe cam edges formed by the slot I6 to shift the pin I1 and slide I8transversely of the plate I4 until the center of the spring 23 haspassed its dead center position between the posts 24. Thereupon thespring 23 expands in the opposite direction from that which it initiallyoccupied and imparts a snap action to the slide I8 which moves the disk2| into engagement with the gong 6 to sound a signal. These movements ofthe plates I4 and I8 result in the positioning of the pin I! in the apexformed between the first Zig and zag of the slot, so that furthermovement of th lever B and forward movement of the slide I4 causes thecam surfaces formed by the zag section of the slot to move the pin I1and plate I8 toward their original position. When the spring 23 has beenmoved past its dead center position, it expands to its original positionand imparts a snap action to the slide I8 causing the disk 2 I tocontact and ring the gong 6. Further movement of the lever B rearwardlyand shifting of the plate I4. forwardly causes the third section of theslot I6 to again shift the pin and slide I8 so as to move the spring 23past its dead center position, thereby imparting a snap action to theslide I8 and causing the disk 2| to contact and ring the bell a thirdtime just before the vehicle strikes the wall.

If the vehicle should move away from the wall while the upper end of thelever B is turned toward its rearward position and the spring I is undertension, the release of the pressure on the upper end of the lever 8permits the spring II] to move the lever thereby moving the plate I4toward the rear of the base. This rearward movement of the plate acts inthe same manner as the forward movement thereof to move the pin I1 andslide I8 transversely of the plate I4, and each resulting movement ofthe spring 23 past its dead center position imparts a snap action to theslide I8 which causes the disks 2| and 2 I respectively to impact andsound the signal.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a pair of transverselydisposed slides, one of said slides having a cam-groove containing aslot and the other of said slides having a member engaging in saidcam-groove and bodily rectilineally movable thereby, means including afulcrumed lever entering said slot for moving the slide having saidcam-groove, and a signal operable by the other of said slides.

2. In a device of the character described, a slide containing a zig-zaggroove, a slide having a member engaged in said groove, an arm foroperating the slide containing the groove and a signal operable by abodily rectilineal movement of the other of said slides on the approachof said member toward the end of a zig or of a zag of said groove uponthe action thereon of each of consecutive angularly disposed walls ofsaid zigzag groove.

3. In a device of the character described, a slide, an arm for movingsaid slide in one direction, means for normally biasing said slide andarm in the opposite direction, a slide bodily movable transversely tosaid first named slide, said slides having co-acting members whereby themovement of the first slide actuates the second slide in each of aplurality of sequential positions of the first slide, toggle meansincluding a spring in parting a snap action to said second slide in thedirection in which it is moving when moved to each of a sequence ofpredetermined positions by said first slide, and a signal operable bysaid second slide.

4. In a device of the character described, a fulcrumed arm, a slidemovable rectilineally by rockingsaid arm and containing a zig-zaggroove, a coiled spring normally biasing said slide and arm toward oneposition, a slide movable transversely to said slide first named andhaving a member engaged in said groove, means comprising a bowed springconnected with and imparting a snap movement to said second named slideupon movement thereof in either direction by said first slide, and agong operable by said second slide upon the movement thereof in eitherdirection.

5. In a device of the character described, an operating arm, a signal,and means operable step by step to intermittently actuate said signalupon the movement of said operating arm in either direction, said meanscomprising a pair of slides bodily rectilineally movable transversely toone another and a toggle mechanism connected with one of said slides andaugmenting movement imparted theretofrom said arm through the other ofsaid slides.

HERMAN F. SCHNEIDER.

